Taboo, one of the four members in American hip-hop band The Black Eyed Peas, admits he wasn't sure what to think when frontman will.i.am. first approached the others in the group about making an album that drew on the electronic-edged dance music happening in underground clubs.
"Will, he's such a futuristic genius," Taboo (Jaime Luis Gomez) said in a recent phone interview. "When he brought that to the camp, he was like 'Yo, Tab, App (apl.de.app, whose real name is Allan Pineda Lindo) and Ferg (Fergie, whose real name is Stacy Ann Ferguson), this is the direction of the album. I believe in this. I know that this sound could be big. Just believe in it, understand it, research it, study it and become it.' So me and Fergie, we were ... hesitant at first, because we didn't know what to expect. But once Will and App brought us to the studio to see what it was like, and they took us to the clubs and we got really inspired by the pulse of the youth, they won us over."
Taboo said will.i.am. (William James Adams) got the idea of bringing a futuristic/electronic element to the current CD, The E.N.D., after he had started visiting the Los Angeles dance club scene, where artists were mixing electronics with dance sounds. On a 2008 trip to Australia, while will.i.am was filming a role in the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he found that the sound had spread down under.
Taboo noted it wasn't a stretch to incorporate an electro-dance edge to The Black Eyed Peas' music; it reminded the group of early '90s hip hop and jungle music, two key original influences on the group's music.
"It was more about the hardness of the beats, and how they used synthesizers, and it inspired us to kind of add The Black Eyed Peas flavour to it," said Taboo.
And The Black Eyed Peas weren't shy about making the electronics a primary ingredient on The E.N.D." (which stands for The Energy Never Dies), infiltrating everything from beats to instrumental tones to treated vocals, putting a whole new sheen on the group's sound.
What hasn't changed on The E.N.D. is the lighter lyrical direction that began to emerge strongly on The Black Eyed Peas' previous CD, Monkey Business. Just as that album was marked by humorous - some might even say frivolous - tracks like My Humps and Let's Get It Started, the latest CD is defined by such just-for-fun tracks as Boom Boom Pow.
Some critics have accused The Black Eyed Peas with dumbing down its music to broaden the appeal of the group. And there's certainly a notable contrast between early albums, such as Bridging The Gap and Behind The Front - which gave the group a reputation for being of the more literate and socially aware groups in hip hop - and the recent music.
Taboo, though, begs to differ with that viewpoint. To him, the lighter side of The Peas simply reflects what has always been a key personality trait of the group.
"The thing about Black Eyed Peas is we're very humorous," Taboo said. "All we do is laugh all day. When we're doing interviews, we laugh. We don't take anything too seriously. Life is too short to be serious. We like to have fun with it. That's why this album is a club record. We like to go to clubs. We like to dance. We like to have a good time. We're best friends that get to travel the world and create a movement. That's what's special about Black Eyed Peas."
Considering the stature of The Black Eyed Peas in the music world today, it's hard to criticize the group if it has lightened up. The foursome has clearly struck a chord unlike any other act on the hip-hop/dance-pop scene.
But for the first part of its career, The Black Eyed Peas weren't making much noise on the charts, despite receiving considerable critical acclaim for their early albums. But then the departure of background vocalist Kim Hill in 2000 created an opening that was filled by Fergie, who immediately assumed a prominent role in the vocal mix on the 2003 CD, Elephunk. That CD included a funky R&B track, Where Is The Love - with guest vocals from Justin Timberlake - that gave the group its first major hit, reaching number 8 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.
Since then, The Black Eyed Peas have been on a roll. Worldwide sales now stand at more than 26 million, making the group the bestselling hip-hop act in music today. The first two singles from The E.N.D. - Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling - set a record by topping Billboard magazine's top 40 singles chart for a combined 26 consecutive weeks, the longest stretch that any act had kept a grip on the number 1 single slot. Now a third single, Imma Be, is sitting in the top 10 on several Billboard charts.
Sales of The E.N.D. have topped nine million copies worldwide, and the group recently took home two Grammy Awards in January - for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (for I Gotta Feeling) and Best Pop Vocal Album (for The E.N.D.).
Now the group is riding its wave of success into the live arena, coming to Canada as part of a major North American tour.
And Taboo says he and his bandmates are stepping up their game to match their mushrooming popularity: The group is bringing out a custom-built stage with elevators and trap doors, a whole new lighting system and video screens - a big change from previous tours that relied on the group's own performance skills and a live band to make an impact with audiences.
"Actually, Fergie was the one (who wanted) to do something big for this next album," Taboo said. "If we're going to be on this futuristic 3008 vibe, we need to step up our performance.
"For us, it's something we've never had before," he added. "There's a little bit of choreography in a couple of songs with the dancers we have; it's a little bit more of a spectacle. Four people on stage jumping around, it was great energy and we won people over for many years. But we felt the fans, the Peabodies, deserved a better performance and a better presentation with this tour."
Canadian tour dates: Vancouver April 11, Toronto July 27 & 28, Montreal July 31, Ottawa Aug. 1, Winnipeg Aug. 18, Saskatoon Aug. 20, Calgary Aug. 22, Edmonton Aug. 23.
